I. ˈnəthiŋ, -thēŋ pronoun
Etymology: Middle English nothing, nathing, non thing, from Old English nāthing, nān thing, from nān no + thing — more at none
1. : not any thing : no thing
nothing in the … document precludes the existence of regional arrangements — Vera M. Dean
leaving nothing to chance — Fred Majdalany
the dead feel nothing , hear nothing — Carson McCullers
had done little or nothing toward solving the really fundamental problem — Collier's Year Book
just say nothing — Lilian Balch
2. : no share, element, or part
wrote nothing of an acceptance message in advance — J.A.Huston
nothing of him that doth fade — Shakespeare
3.
a. : one that is of no interest, value, or consequence to a person
she's nothing to me, and I am nothing to her — Thomas Hardy
the work he does … is nothing to him — T.P.Whitney
b. : no gain or advantage — often used in the phrase nothing in it
there was nothing in it for him — L.C.Douglas
c. : no point or element of advantage : no superiority of condition — usually used in the phrase have nothing on
palaces had … nothing on her lovely thatched cottage — No. American Review
d. : no substance or reality
there's nothing to that story
e. : no complexity or difficulty
the inexperienced hunter, who, after having killed a dozen or so of the animals … begins to think there is nothing in it — James Stevenson-Hamilton
there's nothing to it if you know how
f. : no money or resources
lived … on next to nothing — Ellen Glasgow
left with nothing
g. : no incriminating or damning evidence — usually used in the phrase have nothing on
the police had nothing on him
•
- for nothing
- in nothing flat
- nothing but
- nothing doing
- nothing for it
- nothing if not
II. adverb
Etymology: Middle English nothing, nathing, from Old English nāthing, nān thing, from nāthing, nān thing, pron.
: not at all : in no degree
that he should become a deity is nothing surprising — A.M.Young
nothing daunted, they dive into the icy water — G.W.Long
•
- nothing like
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: nothing (I)
1.
a. : no thing at all : something that does not exist
an emissary of the primeval nothing — Thomas Carlyle
nothing cannot become an object of consciousness — Herbert Spencer
b.
(1) : the absence of all magnitude or quantity : zero
(2) : the symbol naught : cipher
c. : something that is characterized by utter absence of determination : perfect indistinguishableness
pure nothing
d. obsolete : utter insignificance : nothingness
find the emptiness of all things and the nothing of what is past — Sir Thomas Browne
2.
a.
(1) : something of no or slight value or significance : trifle , bagatelle
a little nothing of a dress — Lois Long
love at first sight is a romantic nothing — Walter Le Beau
so badly damaged that they looked like nothing — J.P.Blank
(2) : a trifling or inane remark
the glories of silent appreciation were shattered by garrulous nothings — William Beebe
having drinks and saying sweet nothings — Hugh Gaitskell
b. : a person or other living individual who is supremely insignificant or inconsequential : one with no claim to note : nullity
his wife … is strictly a nothing — New Yorker
the bull … had temporarily become a nothing — Jean Stafford
•
- no nothing